The ultimate neoliberal “dreamworld” – on desert sand without water
Expat influencers sold Dubai to the world and were paid to look the other way. Now the dream is crumbling

* "The Dubai project requires demanding visitors and expats to not think too much about the suffering or question what goes on beyond the city’s borders. And how that city came to be built in the first place."

"The whole social contract of Dubai involves a wilful blindness to the proximity of suffering and violence. After all, Gaza is geographically close." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/31/dubai-influencers-expats-denial-middle-east-crisis

* Living Well at Others' Expense: The Hidden Costs of Western Prosperity, Stephan Lessenich, 2019, Polity Press >>
https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=living-well-at-others-expense-the-hidden-costs-of-western-prosperity--9781509525621

#WesternProsperity #GlobalInequality #wealth #inequality #externalisation #mobility #Dubai #drylands #settlersociety #WilfulBlindness #CrumblingDreams #FossilFuels #oil #water #war #WarZone #ClimateCrisis